Mediating Indigenous Voice in the Museum: Narratives of Place, Land, and Environment in New Exhibition Practice

Abstract

As popular Indigenous museums have proliferated globally, the question of “voice” has become as important as the question of “truth.” This article explores the discourse of Indigenous voice and describes its intersections with media and the representation of Indigenous place in new exhibition practice. It suggests that while the discourse of Indigenous voice appears in many new exhibits, it varies in each particular site, leading to different possibilities for articulating Indigenous connections with land and environment. This article focuses on the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington D.C., the Canadian Museum of Civilization's First Peoples Hall, and the Chicago Field Museum's Ancient Americas exhibit, three popular, media-rich sites emerging in the twenty-first century. While the NMAI and First Peoples Hall center on conveying a sense of contemporary Indigenous voice, Ancient Americas focuses on third person, scientific accounts of the past. The exhibit emphasizes expert interpretations of Indigenous movement across land over time rather than first person, Indigenous narratives tracing connections with place. Therefore, Ancient Americas produces less narrative possibilities for addressing particular Indigenous concerns over contemporary environmental disruptions. This article explores the resulting tensions and suggests that variations in orientation toward Indigenous voice can shape opportunities for engaging different conceptions of land and environment.

Keywords:

• Indigenous
• First Peoples
• Voice
• Place
• Land
• Environment
• Museums
• Media

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank Eric Aoki and the anonymous reviewers of Environmental Communication and the Critical and Cultural Studies Division of the National Communication Association for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this essay.

Notes

1. Text panel, Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition, Canadian National Gallery, October 23, 2009–January 3, 2010.

2. The Way of the People: National Museum of the American Indian. Master Facilities Programming, Phase 1, Revised Draft Report (November 22, 1991) [document]. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Office of Design and Construction. Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates, Inc. Suitland, MD. National Museum of the American Indian Cultural Resources Center Archives.

3. The Way of the People: National Museum of the American Indian. Master Facilities Programming, Phase 1, Revised Draft Report (November 22, 1991) [document]. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Office of Design and Construction. Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates, Inc. Suitland, MD. National Museum of the American Indian Cultural Resources Center Archives.

4. Communication Intent for We are People of the Present World Zone 2: We Are Still Here—General, n.d. [document]. First Peoples Hall Master Plan and Correspondence. ACQ: 2003-1-0029 box 2. Gatineau. Canadian Museum of Civilization Archives.

5. Communication Intent for We are People of the Present World Zone 2: We Are Still Here—General, n.d. [document]. First Peoples Hall Master Plan and Correspondence. ACQ: 2003-1-0029 box 2. Gatineau. Canadian Museum of Civilization Archives.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Miranda J. Brady

Miranda J. Brady is an Assistant Professor at Carleton University